


Hesitancy

by iloveallmyfandomsequally



Series: Zutara Week 2020 [5]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: F/M, Zuko is an Awkward Turtleduck, Zuko tries to ask Katara out on a date
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-03
Updated: 2020-08-03
Packaged: 2021-03-06 07:28:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,391
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25689604
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iloveallmyfandomsequally/pseuds/iloveallmyfandomsequally
Summary: Zuko tries to pluck up the courage to ask Katara out on a date, but keeps getting interrupted.
Relationships: Katara/Zuko (Avatar), Toph Beifong & Zuko
Series: Zutara Week 2020 [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1862872
Comments: 5
Kudos: 63





	Hesitancy

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted to Fanfiction.net

Zuko took a deep breath. _Today's the day_ , he told himself. _Today's the day I ask Katara if she would like to go on a date with me._ He'd been harboring feelings for her for a while, and ever since their little detour to confront her mom's killer, she'd been sweet to him. He could confidently admit that he'd found her attractive before he'd joined the good guys, but now that she was actually smiling at him she was even more beautiful. The way she gracefully swayed while bending, her contagious laugh, her determination; everything about her was wonderful. And Zuko had to pluck up the courage to ask her out on a date. He was well aware of Aang's infatuation with her, but he didn't see Katara doing anything about it. He wondered if she even liked him back. He wondered if she even liked _him_ back.

Zuko strolled around the campsite, trying not to make it so obvious he was looking for something, or some _one_. Aang and Toph were out doing some earthbending training, while Sokka and Suki were who knows _where_ , so that just left him and Katara. He twiddled his thumbs nervously, rehearsing words he thought of last minute to say to Katara. He couldn't really hear them due to his heart pounding so loudly in his ears, but he figured they were somewhat decent. Katara's a smart girl, she'd get the gist. After a few minutes of pacing and mumbling to himself, he spotted her out of the corner of his eye carrying a pile of clothing. He exhaled slowly, thinking he should spruce up a little. He quickly licked his fingers and scraped the hair out of his face, hoping it looked decent. He stood up straight and walked over to Katara with as much confidence as he could muster, but to the naked eye he looked like an awkward turtle-duck.

When he got over there he cleared his throat, getting Katara's attention. Upon seeing her blue eyes glimmer, he immediately forgot everything he had went over in his head. "Hey, um, Katara, how's it, how's it goin'?" he greeted, rubbing the back of his neck anxiously.

"Um, pretty good," Katara answered nonchalantly. "You?"

"Uh, yeah- _yeah_ , everything's . . . dandy. Um, so," Zuko trailed off, trying to say the first thing that popped into his mind, "how 'bout that . . . weather?"

Katara cocked a puzzled eyebrow. She had no idea where this was coming from, and she knew Zuko wasn't one for making small talk. "Zuko, are you-"

"Katara!" Sokka called, interrupting their conversation. _Great, just the person to show up_ , Zuko thought bitterly. "Katara, have you seen Boomerang? I threw him somewhere and I've yet to find him. Help me look for 'em, wouldja?"

Katara groaned and rolled her eyes. "Sokka, what have I told you about not being careful with your toys?"

"Boomerang is not a toy!" Sokka exclaimed angrily, flailing his arms. "He is a strategic weapon of immense skill and intelligence and I need help finding him!"

"Ugh, fine," Katara grumbled, getting up from her laundry. "But this is the last time I'm helping you find your stupid boomerang."

"He's not stupid!"

"Whatever. Talk to you later, Zuko," she said, giving a little wave.

"Later, jerkbender," Sokka teased, grabbing Katara and pulling her off on a search party. Zuko stood there awkwardly, not knowing what to do with himself. _Well, that could've gone a lot worse,_ Zuko thought to himself. He figured it'd be in his best interest to wait and see if there was a better time to ask Katara if she wanted to go out on a date.

* * *

Attempt number two is a go. He decided to go a little more scripted approach where they would just so happen to be in the same general area that it would just casually come up in a conversation and there would be nothing to it. Right now the gang was in the middle of figuring out how Aang was gonna get to the palace to confront the Fire Lord without being noticed by the entire Fire Nation capital. Of course, Zuko was asked a lot of questions. They eventually came to the consensus that they would explore the plan at a later time. Most of them went their separate ways and when Zuko was putting a map away he noticed Katara next to him. He opened his mouth to try and say something but was immediately interrupted.

"Hey, Katara, check this out!" Aang called. They both looked over to see Aang create an air scooter but balance on it with his head. He then proceeded to ride around on it, making Katara laugh in the process. Zuko felt his eye twitch, getting a little more annoyed. Maybe next time.

* * *

Aang flew up into the air as Toph chucked another boulder at him. He was then splashed with the water Katara had shot at him. He shook it off and sent a gust of wind their way, catching them off guard, knocking Toph over and drenching Katara with her own water. He settled down onto the ground and watched them recover from that heavy blast.

"Great job, Aang," Katara complimented, wiping her face with her towel. "You've now proven to us that you can take all the elements at once."

"Yeah, you really gave it your all, Twinkle Toes," Toph said, crossing her arms proudly while spitting out some dirt.

"Thanks, guys," Aang said with a smile. "But I can't help but feel like something's missing, y'know? Like I'm not getting the last piece of the puzzle." All of them started to ponder what Aang was referring to. They also sensed that something about their training session wasn't complete. It was like they had all but one thing.

"Hey, where's Zuko?" Toph asked.

* * *

"Katara, I-Uh, how's it going, first of all? Good? Um, good for me too. I'm okay. I saw this fire lily and thought of you because it's pretty and-well, I don't really like it, but I thought you might like it 'cause you're pretty. But I like you anyways. I'd-uh, uh." Zuko let out a deep sigh and slumped his shoulders. "I'm in trouble. Okay, here we go." He walked back to the campsite and tried to find where Katara was. He found her setting up for lunch, putting rice in the cooking pot while a fire was roaring under. He took a deep breath and straightened his posture. This time he would get it right. This time he would successfully ask Katara if she wanted to go on a date with him. When he got over there she was in the middle of putting a few spices in the dish.

"Hey, Katara, I-"

"Katara!" Toph yelled. Zuko cursed internally. How many more interruptions was he gonna have to go through to ask Katara if she wanted to go on a date? Toph stomped over to where they were, looking more hard-faced than usual. "You should go check on Aang, the guy ate a strange bug and now he's afraid he's going to die. Also he's having an existential spirituality crisis or whatever. So you should probably calm him down."

"How did Aang end up eating a strange bug?" Katara inquired.

"I dunno. Ask Sokka, he ate one too."

Katara groaned and trudged off to go deal with the two boys. Zuko stood there awkwardly with Toph, not quite sure what to do. Eventually Toph asked if he wanted to spar and Zuko obliged, thinking it was good to clear his head for a little bit.

* * *

"Come on, Sparky, you can do better than that!" Toph mocked, throwing another boulder at him. Zuko barely dodged that one, taking in another breath as he went. "My dead grandma can fight better than you!" He stood for a little bit, dodging another boulder and running on his tippy toes. He slid to avoid a rush of pebbles and was eventually caught in one of Toph's traps. He was stuck to the ground with earth-made cuffs. He grumbled as Toph loomed over him with a smug expression.

"The only reason you can't stay on your feet is your hesitation. I never hesitate," Toph said.

"I don't-I don't hesitate!-" Toph knocked him on his back and he plunked down to the ground with a grunt.

"See? You could've avoided my strike if you hadn't been so hesitant. Seriously, Zuko, what's gotten into you? You're usually less lame," Toph inquired, crossing her arms.

"Sorry, I've just . . . got a lot on my mind," Zuko mumbled, catching a glimpse of Katara walking to the main area of the temple. Toph felt his heart rate raise at least twenty beats. It did that whenever he was around Katara so she figured she was nearby. An evil smirk grew on her lips. _So, Sparky's got a thing for Sugar Queen. My, my, what an interesting discovery_ , she thought.

"Oh, I see what's goin' on here," Toph taunted.

"What?" Zuko said.

"I see how you look at Sugar Queen over there. Don't try to deny it, Sparky. I know you've got the hots for her."

Zuko sighed, figuring it was time to give in. "Okay, yeah, I like her. I just . . . I'm trying to wait for the right moment to ask her out, y'know?"

"Listen, Sparky, if everyone waited for the right moment to do things, nothing would get done," Toph said, taking Zuko by surprise. Who knew so much wisdom could be held in that tiny little body. "Just because you're not on a freakin' ostrich-horse or whatever riding into the sunset doesn't mean she's not gonna go out with you. You have to be true to yourself if you wanna get an honest reaction and opinion. Just do something that you think is right, and hopefully Katara will like it."

"Why are you doing this? I thought you'd be on Aang's side since you've known him longer," Zuko said.

"I'm not on anyone's side. I'm on the side of whoever's ballsy enough to ask Katara out on a date," Toph said nonchalantly, shrugging her shoulders. "And frankly, you've got a better shot with Sweetness than Twinkle Toes ever would. She treats him like she would a small child. I've seen the way she acts around you, and I think it'd be a big loss if you didn't tell her how you feel."

"But what if . . . what if she doesn't feel the same?" Zuko said, his voice breaking. "What if she laughs at me? What if she hates me for it? What if she still thinks I'm some . . . some traitor? I just . . . I don't know whether I should tell her or keep it in for the good of the group."

"Well, for one, don't be a sissy. Like you've always said, you've struggled to know what you wanted in the past," Toph said. "Besides, if it bothers you so much then do somethin'. So what if Aang doesn't like it? He'll get over it, he's got a whole life ahead of 'em. Just keep in mind that you don't have to always put the good of others over yourself." She puffed some hair that had gotten in her face, spit far enough to hit a nearby flower, and strolled off with her hands behind her head. Zuko stood there in awe. For a twelve year old she was pretty wise when she wasn't being a total brat. Zuko considered taking her words to heart.

* * *

Zuko was sitting on the same dock Katara had been when they had come back from finding Yon Rha. He gazed at the reflection of the sunset in the water, lost in thought. Every time he'd try to ask Katara if she wanted to go on a date someone else would go and ruin it. Well, ruin probably wasn't the right word. Zuko would probably have embarrassed himself to the point of never looking at Katara in the eyes again if they hadn't. But he still felt irked about it. Maybe it was a sign from the universe that he and Katara weren't meant to go on a date. Zuko was never really one to believe the "if it's meant to be, it'll happen", he was more of a work towards your goals kinda guy. But he just couldn't put his feelings into words when it came to Katara.

He heard the padding of footsteps getting closer and he turned his head around to see Katara approaching him. He immediately got up and dusted himself off.

"Hey, we missed you at dinner," Katara said.

"Oh. Sorry, I was just . . . with my thoughts, y'know?" he said with an awkward smile.

"I know that," she said, returning his smile. He let out a slight chuckle. "Hey, uh, did you want to talk about something? I know you kept trying to start a conversation but we kept getting interrupted."

"What makes you think I wanted to ask you something?" Zuko inquired nervously. "Maybe I just wanted to make polite conversation."

Katara chuckled. "Now we both know that's not true. Zuko I know you well enough to know that small talk is in your top five most hated things."

Zuko internally cursed her intuitivity. Of _course_ she had to know something was bothering him. Katara's gaze softened as she saw his face harden. "Seriously, Zuko, is something wrong?" she asked. Zuko took a deep breath. _This is it_ , he thought. This was the chance he finally got to ask Katara if she wanted to go on a date. He automatically started twiddling his thumbs nervously.

"Katara, would you, maybe, like to, I dunno . . . go . . ." Katara quirked an amused eyebrow at him. She went over and placed a kiss to his cheek, making him blush crimson. "I'd love to go on a date with you, Zuko," she said with a smile. Zuko seemed surprised at first but his face broke out into a grin as he grazed his fingers across his face. Katara seemed to flutter her eyelashes a little bit and waved as she strolled off. Zuko glanced around to make sure no one was watching as he fist-pumped their air in victory. But he didn't know that Katara had heard him, and she couldn't help but let a grin spread across her face as she bit her lip.

**Author's Note:**

> If you got those references I put in there, I applaud you.


End file.
